Helios: 08 - II - Things Are Very Different Here

Briefing Room, VPSF Staging Yard

Alcor Junction, Mizar Alcor, Nemesis

0900 VST, February 11, 2481

Heat  waves rose from the flat, tan colored desert plain of Mizar Alcor,  causing everything to be distorted as if in a surrealistic fantasy  world. The giant star, Altinac, hung low in the western sky, its  brilliant red light casting a maroon tint over the landscape and  everything in it. Several large pink clouds slowly drifted from the  eastern coast of Mizar Alcor westward, towards the huge area of low  pressure created by massive amounts of heated air rising high into the  atmosphere at the giant continent's searing interior. The thin, bluish  crescent of Mizar Alcor's largest moon, Lahm, was just beginning to rise  over the distant mountains on the eastern horizon, thin whisps of white  clouds just visible on its surface.

Pahlms stood  looking out the giant windows of the briefing room, watching the  activity in the rail yard below. A set of five DME-FA1 locomotives had  just pulled into the yard and were being coupled to the consist of 250  freight cars they would be pulling to the ore terminal on the Mizar  Plateau. The locomotives were each painted in the standard Ventura,  Phoenix & Santa Fe Phoenixchrome livery of a red base coat with  yellow lettering and a flat black top. The VPSF was one of the few  freight-hauling railroads that still painted their equipment with an  ornate logo, which in the case of the VPSF was known simply as “The  Chief” logo.

Shortly after his arrival on the planet he  completed some in-processing and received his IDs, badges, and sleeping  accommodations for the night. Pahlms turned around as soon as he heard  the sound of heavy-booted footsteps approaching behind him on the metal  floor. A man, looking no younger than his early 40's, wearing the black  military-style uniform of the VPSF Security Division walked towards him,  staring straight into Pahlms's eyes as if trying to intimidate him.

As  soon as the man reached Pahlms he extended his arm, “Howdy, I'm  Yetsukah Megut, director of security for the Bone Gulch Express line.  You must be Pahlms.”

Pahlms reached out and shook  Yetsukah's hand, “Yep, that'd be me. Transferred here from the  Industry's mining operations on Tiv'on.”

“Ahhh, a greenhorn”, Yetsukah smirked.

“Excuse me”, Pahlms squinted at the remark.

“Tiv'on, a planet well within regularly patrolled space.”

“Yes, and?”

“Nemesis.  Things are very different here. Altinac is located on the edge of  Republic space, the Stagecoach sector, about as far from Earth as a  person can get. The Heavy Industries purchased the whole solar system  about a year ago. That, along with frontier status of the sector means  the CRDJE rarely patrols out here even though it's federal space. Well,  the system falls under Imperial jurisdiction. However, that is not the  point.”

Territorial boundaries, as well as a complex  and sometimes confusing system of jurisdictions, were strictly obesrved  within the CRDJE. Towns and cities gave way to counties and states,  which in turn composed republics and continents. Planets and star  systems were organized into larger groups called sectors. Imperial  jurisdiction meant that a noble owned and was responsible for an area,  in this case the entire star system.

“Yes, I read all that in the files during the trip here”, Pahlms answered.

Yetsukah  pointed at the thick glass window, outside towards a large planetary  defense emplacement on the edge of the staging yard, “We on our own out  here. There are countless pirate groups and upstart governments beyond  the edge of the frontier. We have a ball of rock very rich in minerals  and petrochemicals. See where this is going?”
“Yes, I saw that well before now.”

“Good,  let's get you to your living quarters and your 'mav, then we will be  visiting our control center and the crews of the pair of trains you'll  be escorting.”

Pahlms grabbed the handles of his bag  and picked it up, slinging it over his shoulder as he grabbed his other  bag with his free hand, then followed Yetsukah out of the briefing room.

“You'll  be working eight days straight and have three off. It takes a little  over two days for the trip to the mining area, about one to load the  train, and about two days to return here. However, since we operate solo  in our 'mavs, you'll be stopping halfway to rest for the night then  pick up escort for the next train. Once you get to the mining area,  you'll sleep for the night and leave with the train you departed from  here escorting”, Yetsukah spoke as they moved down the utilitarian white  halls of the bunker which the staging yard's control center was housed  in.

As they came into an exterior hall, the large  windows allowed Pahlms to see a single-story building sprawling out from  the bunker, the maroon sky reflected in its windows, “Over there is the  building the living quarters are located in. They're roomy, not too bad  honestly. You'll be staying in one that faces west, which is a plus.”

They  moved on towards the living quarters. The hallways within the facility  were organized in an efficient manner with corridors arranged in a grid  pattern. The floorplan of each floor was as identical to a standard as  possible. If a person learned the general arrangement of one facility  within the company they could easily navigate others, even in other star  systems.

Arriving at his quarters, Harold set his bags  down on the floor near the foot of the bed. The room was quite nice and  decently sized. He estimated it was about 650 square feet, including  the bathroom and kitchenette.

"This is better than the rooms we had on Tiv'on," he said looking the room over.

"The  entire facility is basically brand new, less than a year old. You know  that the Rupertsens are pretty nitpicky about cleanliness and order.  Here with this expensive new facility they're even worse", Yetsukah  responded leaning his shoulder on the door frame.

"Oh I  know the nitpickiness. My first assignment after I hired on with the  company was the oilfields in the Nordstrand Sea on Aseir."

Yetsukah  suddenly took interest and leaned forward slightly, “How did a newly  knighted young fella such as yourself end up being given one of the best  assignments in the company?”

“The reason doesn't  really matter much, the point is their daughter decided to pay one of  the platforms a surprise visit. So, if their teenage kid was that  nitpicky I can only imagine how she got that way.”

“At  least tell me one thing,” Yetsukah said as he leaned back to ensure  nobody was in the hallway, “What did she smell like and did meeting her  in person make you want to....”

Harold cut Yetsukah off, “That's a bit immature for a man in his 50s don't you think?”

“Whoa,  easy there kid. Did I hit a nerve,” Yetsukah jeered before continuing  on in a tone mocking the Hochadel, “I am but a humble man from humble  beginnings. I've not yet been considered noble enough to meet those of  the higher aristocracy, save for the reichsgraf charged with the  administration and protection of this humble star system; and his  reichsritteren placed in charge of each planet within.”

Unlike  most feudal systems in the galaxy, the Empire used a complex and  sometimes unclear method of ranking its nobility. The Hochadel were  nobles whose titles were hereditary rather than purely a courtesy or  positional requirement. Nobility who had a non-heridetary title were  referred to as 'Niederer Adel', as their noble titles were granted to  them for a limited time by Hochadel. Nobility was also further divided  into Uradel and Briefadel. Uradel, or ancient nobility, were considered  to be Hochadel whose date of ennoblement was before 1200, or Niederer  Adel with an ennoblement date prior to 2150.

Ignoring  the mockery Harold responded, “She doesn't smell like anything. And  while incredibly hot, no I didn't want to have relations with her.”

“Ahhhh, not interested in the ladies,” Yetsukah scratched his chin, “Thats perfectly ok. Different strokes for different folks.”

“You've  no idea do you,” Harold said as he squinted ever so slightly, “She's a  thing. A machine. Her aerospace surgeon, um, Ulrich is too. The entire  crew she flies with as well. That's why she has no smell. Would you want  to have sex with a toaster?”

“Young ones will believe  anything,” Yetsukah said trying to keep his laughter under control,  “They tell you that nonsense to keep you in line. Anyway, I've had  enough laughter for one day. Let's get back to your tour.”

Yetsukah  stood up, "Don't get caught lounging around on duty if there's as much  as a scuff on the floor tiles or on your helmet. They'll get you for  it."

"Yes, I know. It's all a bit anal."

"Well  they are paying for it all. Just want to keep their property in good  condition. Anyway, let's get over to the control center."

Both men navigated the maze of corridors and stairs until they ended up in another large building.

"This isn't the simplest route, but it's the shortest," Yetsukah said as they walked."

They  showed their IDs to the guards stationed at the building's entrance and  were allowed through the entry control point. Swiping their badges  through several more doors, they finally arrived in the cavernous nerve  center for the entire star system.

The control center  was split into three large rooms by glass walls running from back to  front. On the left was combat control while on the right was rail  control, with extraction control between the two. All three rooms had an  array of large screens at their front and holoprojectors near the  center of each. Displayed on the numerous screens of combat control were  maps of the solar system, the flightspace around various planets and  moons within the system, and current ground operations on those planets  and moons. The holoprojector in combat control displayed a realistic  three-dimensional model of the entire solar system, which floated across  the whole room, and included the position and status of every unit in  space.

Yetsukah pointed towards a thin but wide screen  just to the right of the room's center screen, “That is a security map  of the Bone Gulch Express route. As you can see, the route extends  westward and ends up at the ore terminal about 5,000 miles from here.”

Harold gestured with his head toward a large gas giant on the outer fringes of the system, "that craft is a bit far from home."

"Yes. Gas harvester. Arrived on-planet yesterday. That's about two-point-five billion miles out."

Harold  was introduced to the controllers in combat control who would be  directing him when he was out on missions. After about half an hour of  introductions and general conversation the pair left the control center  and headed to the ground level of the building then towards the rail  yard.

Yetsukah opened the door for Pahlms as the two  walked, the searing dry air hitting Pahlms in the face as if he just  entered a bone-dry bastu with temperature control set too high. The  sound of diesel locomotives filled the staging yard and Pahlms could  feel the low frequency glub-glub droning in his chest.

He  was taken by surprise when the locomotive Yetsukah was leading the two  men towards suddenly throttled up to maximum, sending plumes of thick  black diesel smoke several hundred feet into the air. The almost  deafening hiss of air being gulped into the engine made the diesel sound  like a turbine, while the metallic glub sound of each individual piston  stroke faded into a chorus of mechanical perfection worthy of being  classed with the best of supercars.

“This is one of the  trains in the pair you'll be assigned to”, Yetsukah yelled over the  noise of the locomotive, “I'll be introducing you to the crews when  they're finished with their checks.”

Just as the first  locomotive in the set had throttled back to idle, the second one  throttled to maximum. After several minutes, the crew had finished  testing the fifth locomotive then immediately throttled all five to  maximum. Even though Pahlms knew he was standing on solid ground, he  felt as if it was throbbing beneath his feet in response to the power  being tested before him.

More introductions followed,  this time between Harold and the locomotive crews. After a short tour of  the machines, the crews said they needed to finish up their checks.

Yetsukah  motioned for Pahlms to follow him, “Alright, let's get to the 'mav  hangar so you can get your 'mav and personal equipment squared away  before you bed down for the night.”

Pahlms followed  Yetsukah back into the control bunker and up several flights of stairs  to a roomy area with benches mounted on the back wall.

“This  is the waiting area for the control bunker end of the complex's  transport magrail. The hangar is about three miles south of here, near  the aerospace terminal.”

Pahlms looked out the window;  the room was situated so he had a perfect view of almost the entire  complex. To the north he could see five large white objects resembling  giant golf balls and more objects of similar shape and varying sizes,  along with dozens of antennae. To the east was a sprawling petroleum  refinery, near which Pahlms counted at least three dozen large storage  tanks. Pahlms could just see the huge globe shaped dropcraft in the  distance at the aerospace terminal to the south.

Pahlms  followed the multiple pipelines which ran next to the magrail track  from the distant aerospace terminal back to the refinery, “That'd make  for a bad day.”

“What's that”, Yetsukah asked.

Pahlms nodded towards the aerospace terminal, “Having one of those go up loaded with fuel and petrochemicals.”

“Ah,  it's happened before. Wasn't pretty. I'm sure you've seen military  dropcraft go critical, but when one as big as those goes up loaded full  of volatile chemicals, it's quite a sight”, Yetsukah responded.

“It  was about two thousand feet up right after lift-off, and a full load of  LPG. Catastrophic failure in an engine caused the rest to go. Killed  everyone on board, obviously, and the explosion itself all but took out a  few hangars. However, most of the damage was caused by flaming  dropcraft debris raining down on the aerospace terminal.”

“Yeah,  well I'd rather be in a 'mav getting shot to bits than some dropcraft.  At least in the 'mav I have options”, Pahlms nodded towards the  dropcraft, “In one of those cans you die, or if you're lucky, you ride  it down and might live. Submarines, aircraft, and aerospace craft. The  three worst places I can think of to be if things go south.”

“Agreed. But those guys can't get enough of 'em.”

Pahlms snickered, “You've got to be crazy to want to do that for a living.”

“They say we're the crazy ones to enjoy going into a ground battle getting shot at”, Yetsukah responded.

Just as Yetsukah finished speaking, the magrail silently slid into the terminal and the pair boarded it for the mav hangars.